Vietnam is a country with a lot of cultural history with the United States, and not a lot of it is good. Thankfully, in recent decades, it’s been a lot less conflict and a lot more commerce. Tourism also plays a big role, and a visit to a population center like Hanoi can be life-changing.

We love Hanoi, and it’s not just for the coffee. The sights, the sounds, the people; it’s a fantastic place to visit. Best of all, though, is the food. Hanoi has some incredible street food, the likes of which you can’t find really anywhere else.

What are some of the best street foods you absolutely must try when you visit Hanoi? We struggled a bit to narrow it down, but here are our top seven options.

#1: Pho

It’s probably illegal to write a list about delicious Vietnamese street food and not have pho on the list somewhere. It’s iconic, it’s delicious, it’s everywhere, and it’s very fortifying for when you’re going out for a long day or coming in after a long hike.

Pho comes in a lot of different forms, so you’ll often see menus that list options like pho bo or pho ga; we cover it a bit below, but the second word is the protein or other add-ons to the pho soup itself.

What makes pho so good? It’s a warm and fragrant broth filled with rice noodles, some kind of meat, and often a selection of veggies, depending on what is in season and available. Usually, the meat will carry flavors of spices used to cook it, like cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and coriander.

Locals usually think of pho as a breakfast food, so it’s most popular first thing in the morning, but it’s going to be available all day long, so you can have it for dinner if you like.

#2: Bun Cha

Bun cha is another of the must-try foods on any Vietnamese tourist list and with good reason. It’s based on the same broth and rice noodles as in pho, but instead of an assembled soup, it’s more of a DIY experience.

With bun cha, you’ll get a tray with your ingredients, which will include the rice noodles, some kind of veggie, and probably some herbs of some kind, and the star of the show: pork patties. The pork patties are sort of like flattened meatballs, cooked until the outside caramelizes. It’s juicy, rich, and super tasty.

The idea is that you take individual ingredients and eat them a bit at a time, building a mouthful with everything. Dip a few noodles in the broth and slurp them up, cram a bit of veg and a bit of pork, and enjoy. It can take a bit of getting used to, especially if you want to avoid an overly large mouthful, but it’s delicious either way.

Be aware that the broth you get can be hot or it can be cold. Both are equally enjoyable in different ways, but if you get a bowl of cold broth, don’t feel like you’re getting old food; it’s intentional.

#3: Banh Mi

Another staple of Vietnamese food, if you’ve ever eaten at a Vietnamese restaurant in America, chances are you either had pho or a banh mi.

Banh mi is actually a sort of fusion cuisine, coming primarily from France’s influence on Vietnam, right there alongside the coffee culture. Their main influence? The baguette, of course.

Banh mi is a sandwich with pate as a spread, some kind of grilled meat, veggies, and a spicy chili sauce. The exact composition will vary, but it’s pretty much always going to be tasty. After all, how can you go wrong with meat on bread?

#4: Banh Xeo

If you’re seeing the names of these two back-to-back and assuming that Banh Xeo is also a sandwich, you’re going to be surprised. The word “banh” is more or less something like “bread,” but it can also mean “cake,” and, in this case, it’s a lot more like a pancake. Except even that isn’t quite accurate; the banh xeo is a rice flour crepe infused with spices like turmeric.

The dish as a whole includes these crepes alongside a variety of meats, herbs, veggies, and some rice paper. These are building blocks.

Generally, you’ll also be provided with a bowl of warm water. Your goal is to dip the rice paper in the warm water, which softens it up. Put some of the crepe and the assorted ingredients into it, and then roll that sucker up like you’re making a spring roll.

The final piece of the puzzle is the dipping sauce, which is usually a sweet sauce. Stupendous!

#5: Cha Ca

One thing that hasn’t yet been represented on this list is fish. That’s not because fish is somehow ignored in Hanoi; quite the opposite. It’s just not one of the iconic dishes you see everywhere in American Vietnamese restaurants.

In Hanoi, cha ca is pretty common. It’s a fish dish, usually made with catfish. The fish is seared with spices like turmeric and dill and then served over rice noodles. Sometimes, the fish is well-marinated ahead of time, sometimes not. The rest of the dish may or may not include a variety of veggies and herbs, just like everything else, and can even have peanuts included.

Cha ca is also another dish that’s as much of an experience as it is a meal. Like many Vietnamese dishes, you’re given the ingredients and are somewhat expected to assemble and even cook it yourself. That’s a little less likely if you’re getting it as a street food – it’s more for the restaurants – but don’t be too surprised either way.

#6: Xoi Ngot

This one is a little different than the other items on this list. For one thing, it’s not a main course; it’s a dessert!

Xoi is the Vietnamese word for sticky rice, similar to what you’d expect out of sushi rice. Ngot is a particular flavoring for the rice, a mixture of coconut milk and ginger. It’s fairly common, but it’s far from the only variety of Xoi you’ll find. You can also find:

• Gac, which uses the gac fruit for a unique reddish version of the dish popular for festivals.
• Vo, a classic variety using mung bean powder for the primary flavoring.
• Man, a savory version that uses chicken, quail eggs, and other savory toppings.
• Xoai, a mango and coconut variety.

There are dozens of others as well. Just know that if it’s Xoi, it’s going to be a sticky rice and probably a sweet-leaning dessert.

#7: Egg Coffee

Okay, so it’s not quite a street food, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention egg coffee. It’s a coffee beverage that uses whipped eggs to thicken and add richness, as well as sweetness and creaminess from condensed milk.

It’s unique and delicious and definitely worth trying at least once when you’re in Hanoi, whether or not you’re going to the popular cafes or just finding whatever looks good as you explore.

Tips, Rules, and Customs for Hanoi Street Food

Hanoi is the foodie capital of Vietnam, so there’s a ton you can get beyond the dishes we’ve listed above. You can even try the same meal from different vendors and have wildly different experiences.

If you want to make the most of your street food vacation in Hanoi, though, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Aim for the busy vendors, and don’t mind the mess. An interesting thing about Vietnamese street food culture is that it’s heavily powered by word of mouth. If a place is busy, it means it’s good; if it’s not busy, it’s possible it’s substandard, or people have gotten sick eating there, or people just don’t like it for some local reason.

Similarly, if there’s trash like napkins on the ground all over, that’s actually a good sign. There aren’t exactly trash cans on every corner, so locals often just drop their refuse where they sit. We’d think of it as littering, but it’s cleaned up periodically, and at the end of the day, so it’s not too bad. A busy stall with a carpet of napkins around is likely a tasty, busy establishment.

Don’t be afraid to sit and eat. Street food in a lot of countries is meant to be bought and enjoyed while you walk to your next destination or packed up and taken with you on a bus, scooter, bike, or other means of transportation. You will probably feel like the same is true in Hanoi, just because Hanoi is a constant bustle of crowds in a hurry.

Fortunately, the Vietnamese food culture here pays a bit more respect to food. A lot of street foods are only street foods because maintaining an indoor dining area is more expensive, so vendors opt for window stalls and stools or benches on the sidewalk.

This means locals will often find their favorite street food vendors and settle in for a meal. They aren’t necessarily going to linger, sure, but there’s no expectation to buy your food and get moving. You can often find a nice spot to enjoy within glancing distance.

Consider learning some of the common terminology. Once you have some basic food vocab down, you’ll be able to order more comfortably from menus when you aren’t sure what’s what. That said, “menu” is a strong word for the few lines of handwritten item names on a nearby wall that you’ll see in a lot of places.

• Bo – Beef
• Ga – Chicken
• Chay – Vegetables
• Thit Lonx – Pork
• Com – Rice
• Bun – Rice Noodles

We also highly recommend something like Google Lens to take a quick picture and have it translate the text you’re seeing. And, of course, you can always just ask, especially if you have a local who speaks English and can help you out.

Be aware of the (potentially intentional) confusion. A lot of restaurants and street food vendors in Hanoi specialize in one food item and basically just name their restaurant after that food item, along with a street name or address number. It would be like if every fast food restaurant in your local city named itself “Burgers,” so you had Main St. Burgers and West Ave Burgers and so on.

The complexity comes from enterprising vendors who want to take advantage of this confusing state of affairs and name themselves after other more famous or popular restaurants. You can end up at an imitator and never even realize it.

For our part, we didn’t really try to go for the big names or the Instagram Famous stalls; we went for what looked good near where we happened to be. Usually, it worked out. Truth be told, there’s so much good food to find that it’s hard to really go wrong.

Have some idea of when to pay. Generally speaking, if it’s a street food stall, you’ll pay when you order. If it’s a restaurant, you pay when you’re done with the meal. It’s basically the difference between an American sit-down restaurant and fast food.

There’s very little tipping culture in Vietnam, either. Tips are not expected, and locals almost never tip. Westerners often bring tipping with them, but it’s not necessary in most cases. In fact, many locals argue explicitly against tipping to avoid bringing the exploitation that comes along with it to Vietnam.

Avoid thit cho. Or, rather, be aware of what it is before you order it. Stereotypes aside, thit cho is the word for dog meat. If you don’t want to try eating dog, don’t order it. Dog meat is getting less popular over time, but it’s still there on menus, so be aware of what you’re ordering.

Consider a tour. There are street food tours all throughout the city, where an experienced local can take you to some of the most popular and delicious vendors, as well as hidden gems, hole-in-the-wall secrets, and plenty more besides. Since Hanoi is huge, complex, and busy, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and having someone leading you around can be a great option.